CBE Area V | Ron Southern School Designation and Grade Configuration Information Session

Ron Southern School is being constructed in the community of Silverado as a K-4 school with an instructional space of 600 and an anticipated opening date of September 2017.

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) is designating the community of Silverado to Ron Southern School beginning in the 2017-18 school year. For the Silverado community, this is a change from its current designation of Ethel M. Johnson School for K-6. Students from the community will have a regular program K-9 continuum at Ron Southern and Harold Panabaker schools.

Current enrolment projections anticipate that Ron Southern School will open under capacity. This provides an opportunity to consider opening Ron Southern School as K-6. Adding two grades will allow more students to attend school closer to home and for longer.

The two options for the Ron Southern School for 2017-18 and beyond are detailed below:

Option 1

• K-4 (2017-18 and beyond) at Ron Southern School
• For next year, current Grade 4 and 5 students at Ethel M. Johnson School will transfer to Harold Panabaker School for Grades 5 and 6

Option 2

• K-5 first year (2017-18) at Ron Southern School
• K-6 following year (2018-19 and beyond) at Ron Southern School
• For next year, current Grade 5 students at Ethel M. Johnson School will stay at Ethel M. Johnson School for Grade 6 and then move to Harold Panabaker School for Grade 7

Over the longer term, if Ron Southern School becomes over capacity (a trigger of greater than 75 students per grade over a sustained period over multiple grades), grades would be reconfigured to K-4, with the Grade 5 and 6 students moving to Harold Panabaker School to sustain a K-9 continuum for Ron Southern School and Harold Panabaker School.

You are invited to attend an in-person session to share your thoughts on the two options:

Wednesday, March 15, 2017
6:30 – 7:30 pm, with a presentation at 6:30pm
Ethel M. Johnson School

At the session, we will hand out a form for you to indicate your preferred option. This form will also be sent home the following day to any parents not in attendance.

Completed forms must be submitted to Ethel M. Johnson School by March 22, 2017.